Cairo

Alexandria

Egypt's second largest city (3.5 million people), its largest seaport and the country's window onto the Mediterranean Sea. No city in Egypt has history as rich as that of Alexandria which witnessed so many historic events and legends!

Luxor

Aswan

Aswan is the 3rd largest city in Egypt and the biggest in Upper Egypt. Aswan was the ancient Egyptians' gateway to Africa. Today Aswan is major stop for may Nile cruise ships depart from Luxor to Aswan everyday.

Sharm Elsheikh

Sharm is the the jewel of Egyptian tourism industry now. The city offer some of the finest places for diving and snorkeling in the world, it offers great value for money if compared with many diving spots in the world.

Contacts

Marsa Alam, Red Sea Egypt

This popular resort is
located
135 Km south of Al-Qusseir and 270 Km south
of hurghada, and is connected to Edfu by a 289
Km long desert road.

Due to the proximity of
Luxor and the shrine of Abu AI-Hassan AI-Shazli,
it has become a big tourist centre, which
avails the tourist of the many monumental
sites and its exotic beaches.

Marsa Alam is a port and a resort located on
the red sea in the Eastern South of Egypt,
700 kilometers away from Cairo and 280
kilometers away from Hurghada. The city
transformed from being just a small fishing
village to become a famous sea resort and a
center for diving and sea trips as the city
contains matchless coral reefs and diving
spots.

Marsa Alam also has an airport located 60
kilometers to the North of the city and can
serve more than 50 thousand passenger, which
added to the huge development that the city
went through. Flights from different
European countries, especially Italy, come
straight to Marsa Alam international airport
with hundreds of tourists who chose Marsa
Alam to spend their vacation. Other than
more commercial cities like Sharm El Sheikh
and Hurghada, the beauty of Marsa Alam is
still untouched with the harmful effects of
modernization.

Marsa Alam mainly consists of two villages:
Bernice, a small city located 178 kilometers
to the North of Al Qausier, which is famous
for therapeutic tourism and the village of
Abu El Hassan Al Shazly which has a famous
Islamic center and doesn't really have
anything that might interest tourists. But
what about the center of the city of Marsa
Alam itself?

The plan for the city of Marsa Alam indicates that by the year 2020, it will
host more than 60 thousand people and the
city will provide more than 17 thousand
working opportunity.

The Egyptian government gave special
attention to Marsa Alam during the last few
years because of many reasons. The first
reason is that the city has the most
remarkable diving and snorkeling spots in
Egypt. The second reason is the weather in
Marsa Alam which is moderate all year long
especially in the beginning of the winter
when you can swim in the sea while other
people in other cities suffer from the cold
weather. The third reason is that Marsa Alam
is located near the Nile Valley and near
Luxor in particular which makes it possible
for tourists who visit Luxor to come to
Marsa Alam and vice versa.

Marsa Alam has significant economical
importance as it hosts many of the key gold
and marble mines in Egypt. This is besides
the Marsa Alam sea port that was developed
immensely over the last few years.

The Egyptian government was also able to
discover some monuments near Marsa Alam, The
fact that added a new dimension to the city.
The supreme council of antiquates was able
to discover a hall ancient town that goes
back to the new Pharonic kingdom. This is
besides the gold mines in Wadi Baheria that
was used since the times of the Pharos.

Tourist's activities in Marsa Alam

In the morning, the key word is the beach.
Most tourists prefer to spend the early
morning, after having a delicious breakfast,
on the beach to enjoy the crystal clear red
sea water, the shining sun, and the white
sand of Marsa Alam.

When I reached the Qamaraya Hotel, I was
amazed to view all these appealing flower
and tree gardens. This place is really the
paradise on earth. The gardens of the hotel
are very colorful that makes one want his
eyes to transform into a camera in order not
to miss any of these beautiful scenes. I
thought to my self that it is so sad that I
don't have my fiancé with me. We would
really have enjoyed this place. I promised
my self that I would have my honeymoon in
this particular hotel.

When I went to the beach, a lot of tourists
were enjoying the sea, snorkeling and
swimming, until the Italian animation team
started their activities which included
funny competitions between families and
couples. Maybe more than 90% of the guests
were Italians. I learned afterwards that
charters come from Rome and Milan straight
to Marsa Alam with a lot of Italian
tourists.

Other morning activities in Marsa Alam
include playing all sorts of sports. Most of
the resorts in Marsa Alam have tennis,
football, volleyball, and table tennis.
There are tennis instructors that can teach
advanced and beginner players. A lot of
tourists spend the afternoon playing
volleyball before go swimming for the last
time of the day.

Diving in Marsa Alam

The most common activity in Marsa Alam is
diving. This is because the red sea is in
its finest shapes and colors in this amazing
city. There are many diving centers in Marsa
Alam that offer modern equipments that are
all imported form Europe. There are also
some European diving centers that opened
branches in Marsa Alam. The list of the most
important diving centers in the city
includes Deep South, Wadi Gimal, Ocean Pro
and Aquarius.

By chance, I found out that the Qamaraya
hotel hosts the oldest and maybe one of the
most important diving centers in Marsa Alam.
It is called pioneers diving center. The
center has professional diving instructors
who can give lessons in Italian, English,
German and Spanish. The center provides all
types of diving lessons and trips. The
instructors give lessons to beginner divers
and professional divers. They even have
special diving spots for beginners and
others for more advanced divers.

The "Shaab Samadai" or the Dolphin House is
the most interesting diving spot in Marsa
Alam. All diving centers in the city
organize one day trips to this matchless
diving spot where one can view some of the
oldest red sea coral formations. There is
also a chance to swim besides some dolphins.
This is why this spot is called " the
Dolphin House". Another remarkable diving
spot, but this one is exclusively for
advanced divers, is the Elphinstone, which
is considered one of the best diving
locations in the world to view sharks.

Marsa Alam 's Night life

I was amazed to find out that there are
numerous activities to be done at night in
Marsa Alam. One can go shopping for example
as all the sea resorts of the city have a
collection of shops. These shops mainly sell
gifts and souvenirs like perfumes, pharonic
replicates, small statues, silver and gold
jewelry, wooden handcrafts, and some Bedouin
outfits and crafts. I actually bought a
beautiful silver bracelet for my fiancé and
its price was quite reasonable

The most important product that can be
bought from Marsa Alam is herbs. There are
some types of herbs which are only
cultivated in Marsa Alam and the area around
it and you can not find it anywhere else in
Egypt. These herbs are beneficial for the
health and help in curing many chorionic
diseases like diabetes and hypertension.

For tourists who prefer more energetic and
adventurous activities, a lot of resorts and
tourism offices offer interesting different
tours. One can go in a tour to the desert in
the Arabian style riding a camel, watching
the bizarre rock formation in the desert,
and then laying down and have tea and dinner
in the Bedouin tent that will be waiting for
you there. Taste the delicious Bedouin
cooked dishes specially the grilled veal
dishes. if you need to speed up the process,
you can use a beach buggy or motor bicycle
instead of the camel.

Another entertaining tour is to ride a horse
beside the sea or in the desert. There are
instructors to teach your sons and daughters
how to ride young horses. Riding horses is
one of the most pleasurable activities to be
done in Marsa Alam in the afternoon or maybe
late at night as well.

In each of the larger resorts in Marsa Alam,
there are discos, bars, and different types
of restaurants. The Qamaraya Hotel where is
stayed had a disco that was called Ciao
Marsa, which is a dance place that plays all
sorts of music, especially Latin. Another
interesting place is Planet Bedouin, which
is a tent on the beach offering drinks and
Shisha every day. The Bedouin tent also
offers some types of tasty Egyptian food
like Molokheya, grilled meat, Fetta, and
Koshary. There is a belly dancing show two
times a week in the tent.

The animation teams in the resorts of Marsa
Alam never leave the guests without
entertainment. In the late afternoon they
organized some sort of group dancing and
acting scenes. I was not able to participate
off course since I knew a few words in
Italian. However, I spent sometime watching
them dancing together and I participated in
the dances at the very end.

I was lucky because it was Thursday as this
was the day the hotel organizes a beach
party. The ticket for the party was for 70
Euros and it included having two drinks.
Everybody seems happy and everyone mingled
in group dances. I even met some of the
friends I got to know from desert tour I had
earlier in the day. Many resorts offer beach
parties every few days to entertain their
guests.

There are some points I would have to
clarify at the end. First that Marsa Alam
has all sorts of modern services that
include communication services like
international phone calls, wireless
internet, and medical services as each
resort has a small medical center. A tourist
can also hire a car to take him whenever he
wants.

I would like to say that I made my dream
come true when I got married. I went for
half of my honeymoon trip to Marsa Alam.
After me and my wife went for a Nile cruse
between Aswan and Luxor we took a private
car with a driver and went to the same
Qamaraya hotel in Marsa Alam. The trip took
around 4 hours but it was nice as the car
was quite comfortable.

Knowing that we are honeymooners, the
administration of the hotel gave us a nice
cozy room in a quite spot to the far west of
the hotel. The room was wide and had a
remarkable sea view. My wife was amazed to
see the greenery and flowers of the hotel.

We spent four days there that I have to
admit were among the happiest days of my
life. We used to spend the morning on the
beaches of the hotel and the night in the
disco, Bedouin tent, and the small cafe near
the hotel where we played cards and enjoyed
hot drinks. At the end of our trip we took
airplanes straight to Cairo. I have to note
that there are many flights from Cairo to
Marsa Alam and vise versa around the week.

Marsa Alam will always hold a special place
in my heart. The city is marvelous for
divers, honeymooners, and older people who
can enjoy the calm beaches. Before leaving
Marsa Alam in my last trip, I have heard
many people saying that Marsa Alam will be
the coming Sharm Al Sheikh, especially after
many Egyptian construction companies
building resorts and hotels there such as
Porto Ghaleb. Although I would love to see
Marsa Alam as famous as Sharm El Sheikh and
Hurghada, I would like the city to maintain
its charm of being an untouched beauty.